W/R REPORT: With new commissioners, changes likely

Larry Bledsoe, James King and Sherry Riggin sat down to dinner a while back, and they met again briefly last week during a statewide conference for county commissioners.

The trio may never be mistaken for the Three Musketeers. After all, incumbent Bledsoe is a Team Democrat dissident and newly elected King and Riggin are a mainstream Democrat and a Republican, respectively.

But Bledsoe told The Walker/Roysdon Report recently that he's welcoming his new fellow commissioners with an opportunity he felt he didn't have in recent years, when he played the political minority to two mainstream Democrats: A chance to play a more active role in governing.

"It's a board of commissioners," Bledsoe said, emphasizing the word "board." "We're all going to have some input in what's going on. The past two years, that's not necessarily been the case. There's been unilateral decisions made."

Bledsoe is likely to be named president of the board when the commissioners meet at 9 a.m. on Jan. 1 to reorganize. That assumption is based on comments Riggin made this election year, when she said she planned on nominating Bledsoe.

Asked to name agendas the commissioners will pursue, Bledsoe - noting that voters in the Nov. 6 election resoundingly defeated a referendum to consolidate some elements of city and county government - said, "The public wants county commissioners and the mayor of the city, and that's what I want to make sure they get."

"We'll be aggressive in pursuing economic development and jobs in the community," he added. "And we'll be frugal with what money we have. I don't anticipate anything other than positives for county government."

Although Bledsoe wouldn't talk about any changes on the record, it's likely that the new board of commissioners will mean some changes in the lineup of positions the officials fill, from department heads to advisers and counsel to appointments to boards.

One of those might be the Delaware County Airport Authority, which has been the center of behind-the-scenes turmoil for months. The airport board recently suspended executive director Steve Leach and might take further action soon. The board on Friday scheduled an executive session for this week then abruptly canceled it.

Bledsoe emphasized he isn't going to push for wholesale changes to department heads and appointments. But he said those that do continue in their positions should expect to be held more accountable for the performance of their duties: The word "complacent" came up a few times during Bledsoe's talk with W/R.

Quirk: My desk is moving, but I'm not

The calls to W/R came early and often. Callers said that Mike Quirk, chairman of the Delaware County Democratic Party, was out.

Proof? A handcrafted desk, which Quirk had proudly shown off to reporters a year or more ago, had been moved out of the chairman's office at 214 N. Walnut St.

Quirk was quick to refute the rumors that the move reflected his departure from the chairman's position.

"I've heard rumors I'm going to resign," Quirk said last week. "I'm not leaving. I'm just getting a new desk in there."

Quirk said he had moved the previous desk to his home. "I'm buying another desk for headquarters."

"It's funny how people jump to conclusions," he said. "I've never heard so many rumors over moving a piece of furniture."

As political party chairmen go, Quirk would appear to have reason to feel secure in the position he's held since June 2010. While Republicans and Team Democrat dissidents have made inroads into local elected office in recent elections, the mainstream Democratic Party controls the mayor's office, Muncie City Council and Delaware County Council.

Nice work if you can get it

Republican Brian Bosma, speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, came under fire last week when he appointed Matt Whetstone - former state representative who is now a lobbyist, and, effective Jan. 1, a Hancock County commissioner - as House parliamentarian, whose primary role in interpreting House rules for the speaker.

Whetstone - whose lobbyist work sparked most of the controversy - will be paid $12,000 per month for his parliamentarian duties during the upcoming Legislative session.

A local connection to all this? In an attempt to portray the Whetstone appointment as a bargain, Bosma backers noted that the parliamentarian for the 2011 session, Muncie attorney and former Republican state Rep. Bruce Munson, was paid $13,500 a month.

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W/R REPORT: With new commissioners, changes likely

Larry Bledsoe, James King and Sherry Riggin sat down to dinner a while back, and they met again briefly last week during a statewide conference for county commissioners.The trio may never be mistaken